The Boxer's Omen – The first time I saw this Hong
Kong oddity I couldn’t initially tell whether it was a boxing movie, revenge
drama, gangster film, softcore crossover, spiritual odyssey, martial arts thriller,
horror movie, stop-motion cartoon or black comedy. It’s a bit of each, and all
of that in just the first 30 minutes, eventually ‘settling into the
conventions’ of the obscure HK micro-genre of Buddhist monk vs. Voodoo
witchdoctor combat. I have to wonder if director Kuei Chih-Hung knew he was at
the end of his career (his next film, appropriately named Misfire, would be his
last of nearly 40) and tried to cram in every idea he had left. It pays off, though
only according to its few acolytes. The hyperactive unpredictable imagination
of its fast-paced, anything-goes plot left me breathless and happy. Its
willingness to ignore good taste and common sense occasionally goes too far,
especially in some expendable gross-out scenes, but I’m glad it never holds
back. This is an all-time favorite.
A Boy and His Dog – Post apocalyptic SF written by
Harlan Ellison and starring Miami Vice’s Don Johnson as a wasteland youth
hunting women to rape with the help of his telepathic dog. The second half gets
weirder. The politically incorrect, frequently mistimed humor is not for
everyone, but most agree the anti-romantic ending is priceless.
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia – El Jefe, a rich
Mexican landowner, tortures his pregnant daughter to discover her lover’s name
(Alfredo Garcia) and sets a million dollar bounty on his head. Bennie, a washed-up
drunk, learns that Garcia is already dead, digs up the head, and plans to
make a killing, except that everything goes to hell. Bloodsoaked, grotesque and riddled
with amoral desolation, Sam Peckinpah’s film was critically savaged on its
release, but hailed as a masterpiece decades later. I found it revolting on
first watch, but Netflixed it a second time only a couple of weeks later after
I couldn’t get it out of my head. I also considered including Peckinpah’s The
Getaway, which is sort of the reverse case: a huge box office success in its day now
considered beneath notice. I think it’s an action classic with some
brilliant technical work (especially in the editing of the opening act), but it
was made for all the wrong reasons: Peckinpah needed the money and McQueen and
McGraw couldn’t keep their hands off each other.
Brother from Another Planet – An “alien” (who happens
to look exactly like a black man) crash lands on Earth and has to survive in
New York City without knowing anyone or speaking the language and while being
hunted by space slavers (who happen to look exactly like white yuppies). The
metaphor’s total lack of subtlety is part of the charm. Director John Sayles has made better films, but few with such a knowing sense of humor.
A Bucket of Blood – Roger Corman’s unexpectedly
sensitive satire of beatniks finds a dimwitted waiter inadvertently transformed
into the toast of the 1950’s avant-garde after he kills a cat (and later much
more) and coats the corpse in clay. I’m a Corman apologist and considered
several of his films for this list, ultimately running with A Bucket of Blood
(that sounds odd out of context) though these days it might be considered an obvious choice. Prefer something of his more eccentric? I'm curious; throw it in a comment.
Cannibal: The Musical – An early film by the South
Park guys, this is a musical based on the real life frontier cannibalism of
prospecting party lost during a trip from Utah to Colorado. It’s low-budget,
irreverent and surreal, but it’s surprising how often the film actually succeeds.
The songwriting, especially, is rather memorable. (I'm playing back the musical numbers in my head and laughing. Some it you just has to be witnessed!)
Care Bears Adventures in Wonderland – Even the few
professional critics who bother to review Care Bears movies, considered this,
the third in the series, to be a confusing and unwelcome effort from the
Canadian animation team. I watched this whenever I was sick as a kid and
I still love their take on Alice in Wonderland, especially the cheery-dreary villain who wants
to bring sanity to wonderland (how evil!) and desaturate all the colors (or
something). A few bastardizations go too
far, including a rapping Cheshire cat. Also new is a pair of red robots,
piloted by Tweedledee and Tweedledum, which gave me nightmares.
Carnival of Souls – Carnival is sort of an art-house
zombie movie, produced for peanuts and taking decades to build up word of
mouth. Deliberate, brooding and mild-mannered, it gets under your skin, thanks
largely to the inexperienced director’s earnest artistic ambition and the investment
of his cast and crew. Part of the kick I get out of watching the film is having
lived near both the primary shooting locations: Lawrence, KS and Salt Lake
City, UT.
Cassandra Cat – Czech children’s parable about
innocence, love and kittens. A small village is visited by a beautiful immortal
magician who puts on a puppet show. The local young-at-heart teacher falls in
love. The plot hinges around the lady’s magical cat who reveals the citizen’s
true colors (literally) when it removes its stylish sunglasses. Essentially
it’s about how authority, hypocrisy, taxidermy and most adults suck. Yeah, it’s
a product of its time, but one I utterly sympathize with.
The Central Region – Michael Snow placed a camera that could rotate on every axis in the rocky shrub-strewn Canadian wilderness
far from the nearest human habitation. For three days it executed
pre-programmed patterns of movements in the absence of a director, cameraman or
cast. Snow edits the resulting footage into a 3 hours film with no story. This
is Structuralism, hardcore. More specifically it’s an experimental work that
abandons conventional notions of narrative and performance in favor of
analyzing form and technique, challenging us to see our world through alien
eyes. Tedious? Yes. But after overcoming my fidgets I gradually synchronized
with the film’s rhythm of motions and became strangely hypnotized. Enough to
watch it several times!
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